blog

The Role of a Business Broker

What exactly are the duties and practices of a business broker? My opinion: As with many other professions there are basics that must be met, physicians must ‘do no harm.’  Perhaps in business brokering, the basic is ‘fair and honest.’ Usually the broker has a specific duty to either the buyer or seller, whomever they represent.  However, the morality piece for me is being fair and honest must apply to all. In a [...]

2011-12-13T09:50:10-07:00December 13, 2011|

Cash Flows Confound

Recently a business owner was asked directly by the buyer of the business for a current year cash flow.  The seller produced a cash flow and gave it to the buyer. The buyer was elated as it showed more cash flow than the profit and loss statement demonstrated. Unfortunately the business owner did not know about this particular form of cash flow and the buyer was misleading himself.   The term cash flow means [...]

2011-12-11T09:37:02-07:00December 11, 2011|

Service – What it is all about!

Always, if I can buy local, reasonably, I do. It happened that yesterday, while in Albuquerque, I needed to make a small purchase, $1.95. The purchase was of a miniature skein of yarn to repair the dreaded moth holes in my lovely sweater. I have never before been to the Yarn Store at Nob Hill.  The place was hopping.  The owner was taking care of my minor need.  If you know yarn, the [...]

2011-12-09T09:09:52-07:00December 9, 2011|

Seller: Why do you ask so many questions?

Entrepreneurs come in the not-so-detailed, detailed, and everything in between definitions.  Just like the rest of the human race. One of my clients has an office in their house.  Each hard-copy document is neatly placed in just the right three-ring binder.  The documents range from every sale ever made, to photos of the inventory, the past umpteen years of financial performance.   The computer has sections for this and that and the other. Another [...]

2011-09-30T07:39:47-06:00September 30, 2011|

The Difference a Month Makes

Once I ran medical office businesses.  Some were urgent care facilities.  After several years, it became clear that there was no rhyme or reason to the revenue flow.  The only thing that was clear was on the days I would visit any specific location, there were no patients.  They had either come the hour or day before or would after my visit.  This period of  my professional life was when my first gray [...]

2011-09-28T07:37:59-06:00September 28, 2011|

Expanding My Business

Many entrepreneurs dream of developing their business to a point where they can add staff and other assets, relieve the pressure of doing everything, and focus on managing. Then the point comes when just one more customer has arrived and it makes sense  (perhaps) to take the next expansion step.  Judging the time for this is difficult…not too soon and not too late.  Following are considerations for operational/cost expansion as well as those [...]

2011-09-25T07:27:20-06:00September 25, 2011|

Sell now?

Business Owner:  My business is starting to recover after the economic downturn. There is no single answer to this question “Do I sell now.”  Many business brokers are reporting that their sales are up this year.  This swing from low sales to higher sales is not necessarily based on greatly improved business-for-sale values.  Instead the brokers report that the improved sales are because owners are deciding to reduce the sale price and take [...]

2011-09-22T07:26:40-06:00September 22, 2011|

Transition of the Family Business

Recently one owner of a business died, the father.  He and his wife had started and operated the business together.  He became ill and after a long health crises, one with ebbs and flows, he died.  His role with the business also ebbed and flowed as his health demanded.  The wife was increasingly responsible. Knowing he was ill, they took steps to put a will in place.  His share of the business was [...]

2011-08-23T07:08:07-06:00August 23, 2011|

Want to sell? Don’t be sloppy.

Recently, at lunch with business owners, I was asked what are a couple of must dos for business owners that eventually want to sell. The first thing that slid off my tongue was “don’t be sloppy.” You know what a sloppy business looks like.  It could have one or more of these characteristics: Records are messy. Taxes are not filed. The facility is not neat. The attire is not attractive. The way people [...]

2011-08-18T07:06:18-06:00August 18, 2011|

IMPROVING THE MARKETABILITY OF YOUR BUSINESS

Thank you to Jacqueline for her guest entry. Most articles I have read tell the business owner considering the sale of his or her business to focus on tax, accounting, income, and legal aspects of preparing for a sale. The value of the company, customer data, and assets and real estate are all equally important.  Key to success is involving a business broker, CPA and lawyer. But when determining the value of the [...]

2011-08-15T07:03:11-06:00August 15, 2011|
Go to Top